Black and white visionary

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd sees todays game at Everton as the next step of a great Geordie journey. By Louise Taylor

At which Premiership club were the chairman, manager, captain, first-team coach and youth coach all born and brought up within a 15-mile radius? The answer is Newcastle United, where, as Freddy Shepherd puts it: “I’m delighted to say that myself, Sir Bobby Robson, Alan Shearer, John Carver and Peter Beardsley are all Geordies.”

In an era when we supposedly inhabit a global village, such parochial pride may seem anachronistic, but not to the Newcastle chairman. “When I talk about our Geordie core and my hopes for a Geordie dynasty, people say, ‘Does it matter? Does where somebody comes from really affect their ability to do the job?’ But I tell them, ‘Yes, it does make a difference’,” said Shepherd.

“I believe Geordies in key jobs at this club give you a potentially vital extra 1% that non- Geordies don’t. Geordies have extra passion and understanding. We are always going to